Free as a Bird
by Rikugou
Summary: [No Refunds: Dying hurts like hell] A series of NejiNaru drabbles written for 30 kisses. Possible spoilers up to ch238 of the manga.
1. Ramen and Chocolate

**Title**: Ramen and Chocolate  
**Author**: Rikugou  
**Pairing**: Neji+Naruto  
**Fandom**: Naruto  
**Theme**: 19 - red  
**Summary**: Neji dislikes Valentine's Day and has to deal with fan girls while on guard duty.  
**Disclaimer**: Naruto does not belong to me.

**Notes**: Characters may be OOC. I'm still trying to get the right feel of them. This was written as part of the 30kisses theme on LJ.

* * *

Neji had always believed Valentine's Day was a pointless holiday. It was one of two days in the year in which everyone had an 'accepted' excuse to drown someone in love letters, assorted boxes of chocolates (which, depending on their culinary skills were possibly deadly to the stomach) and other such frivolous things.

It turned keeping guard in the Hokage building into a living hell. Fending off your own admirers was difficult enough on a daily basis. Doing so while also trying to get rid of the Rokudaime's admirers made him consider imaginative ways to get rid of them--most of which included bodily harm. Kiba was already spoken for and thereby gained immunity (he got a box of chocolates from Hinata-sama in the morning and practically shoved it in his face every chance the dog-user had).

As for himself, Hyuuga Neji of the Hyuuga Clan was prime bait (despite being a branch member) and quite single so therefore, was free to date any of them. For some reason, that seemed to fire up their determination to see him accept the tokens of their adoration (though it seemed more like obsession to him). Personally, he had already accepted all the chocolates he was willing to take that very morning (a box from Sakura-san, Tenten and Hinata-sama) and had no wish to obtain any more (or test the strength of his digestive system. Chouji was the one with the cast iron stomach, not him).

All he could do was stand stoically at attention and try his best to ignore the females (and a few courageous males) around him. Neji had attempted several times to tell them to go away but it only made the mob of females giggle and push closer (He suspects that the Valentine fumes in the air must have gotten some wires crossed in their brains if they thought trying to squish him would make them any more desirable in his eyes). If it wasn't for the fact that Konoha had had _no_ immediate enemies or any underground plot threatening the Rokudaime or the village for the past year, his fellow Anbu members would have rescued him. As it was, his predicament was going to be the topic of jokes for the next month or until it got old (the third option would be until he snapped and tried to kick someone's face in though that wasn't really his style).

Just as his temper was about to get the better of him, another pair of Anbu appeared to relieve Neji and Kiba of their post. The Byakugan-wielder almost sighed in relief (but didn't because the throng of crazed fans were sure to realize they were wearing him down). Part of the crowd around him shifted at their sudden appearance. When they realized it was their precious Sasuke-kun, the throng got impossibly louder. Neji repressed a small smirk at the overwhelmed look on the Uchiha's face and took a few moments to savor it before teleporting himself away, ignoring the brief protests of those who recognized the hand seals he made for the jutsu.

The familiar walls of the Hokage's office manifested around him, along with a quiet he had been missing for the past 4 hours he was on duty. His shoulders finally relaxed from the tension he had been feeling for his entire shift. The only sound that broke the comfortable stillness was the negligible scritch-scratch of a pen on paper and the occasional dull thump of a stamp.

After a moment, a spiky blonde head looked up from behind his pile of papers and scrolls and smiled in welcome. "Hey, your shift's over?" Blue eyes glanced briefly at the clock, mildly surprised at the hour. When they turned back to Neji, however, the smile on Naruto's face quickly became a smirk.

Neji stalked over to sit on the corner of the desk, arms crossed slightly in annoyance. "What did I do to warrant guard duty on Valentine's Day?" he said, jumping to the punch. No need to beat around the bush. A slow widening of the irritating smirk told him all he needed to know. Naruto may be Hokage for the next couple of decades, but the prankster inside was eternal. The Rokudaime could be 60 years old and he would _still_ be playing jokes on people. At least he wasn't the only one to suffer from a close encounter with crazy fan girls (and boys).

"I need to get my entertainment _somehow_ yanno," Naruto snickered.

He repressed the impulse to roll his eyes and opted to comment instead. "Watching a movie would have been easier."

"But then I wouldn't be able to have so much fun!" Naruto gave him a fox grin and pillowed his head on his arms, blue eyes looking up at the Hyuuga mischievously.

Neji gave into the urge and rolled his eyes, kicking at the (all too amused) Hokage's chair in irritation. Really, his friend needed a new hobby rather than playing 'see how long it'll take to annoy the hell out of Neji'.

"Shouldn't you get back to work?" Neji warily eyed the stack of papers piled across the desk. Konohamaru was probably going pitch a fit if he saw that Naruto didn't make any inroads to the work.

"You're the one who interrupted me!" The Rokudaime smugly declared.

"_You_ were the one who told me to come after my shift," he drily replied. The shorter man probably wanted to admire his handiwork. Sometimes he thought his friend was still 12 years old rather than 28. Some people just _never_ grew up.

"I just wanted to see how much chocolate you got," Naruto pouted.

"Three."

Blue eyes blinked in confusion. "From _that_ mob?"

"I didn't take any from them," Neji said in an unamused tone.

"Aww, why not?"

'I might get poisoned,' lingered on the tip of his tongue but he held back from saying it. Naruto was the type to accept any and all gifts from practically anyone so he probably wouldn't really understand (which was why Sakura-san was busy making sure each and every piece of chocolate was free of contamination minus the bad cooking. The Yondaime already died young, there wasn't any need to let the Rokudaime follow in his footsteps). "I didn't want to get their hopes up," was a more diplomatic response.

"Oh," Naruto said, as if the thought had never occurred to him. Choosing to take advantage of the other's preoccupation, Neji prepared to leave the office. No point in hanging around to give the Hokage an excuse to procrastinate.

However, before the Hyuuga could move, Naruto stood abruptly. Leaning in close, the fox grin turning just a tad flirtatious, he asked, "Hey, come to think of it, where are _my_ chocolates from you?"

Neji let one eyebrow fly nearly to his hairline. Chocolate? From him? Intrigued, he decided to play along. "After that stunt you pulled, you'd be lucky to get a--_MMPH_!" He froze at the sudden press of lips against his but by the time his mind could properly register the sensation, it was over.

Naruto backed away slightly with a self-satisfied smirk on his face and brazenly swiped a tongue cat-like over Neji's bottom lip. Smiling serenely, the younger man danced away. "On second thought, I think I want ramen instead."

The pleasant press of Naruto's body against his disappeared immediately as the Rokudaime sauntered over to the exit and left the office. It wasn't until Neji was alone in the room that his brain finally caught up with the strange events and proceeded to repeat, 'Oh my god. Kiss' in random, chaotic intervals.

The silence in the room was nearly deafening and quickly broken when the door opened again and a spiky blonde head poked inside. "Neji!" Naruto said, annoyed. "I'm not gonna wait all day for you to get a clue. Stop thinking so much and let's go to Ichiraku's!"

Shaking his head wryly, Neji followed the hyperactive blonde out. He'll have to worry about the entire thing later. Right now, he had a demanding mouth to feed and later, a Hokage to drag back to his office after he had been fed.

-end-

**Finished**: 04.05.05  
**Editted**: 04.07.05


	2. Distraction

**Title**: Distraction  
**Author**: Rikugou  
**Pairing**: Neji+Naruto  
**Fandom**: Naruto  
**Theme**: 27 - overflow  
**Disclaimer**: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-sensei.  
**Notes**: Doesn't follow the previous theme at all. Much thanks to Ericulf for the inspiration.

--- 

There were very few tried and true methods of distracting Naruto from his ramen. One method (and unfortunately outdated since he grew out of it and knows very well that it wasn't true) was claiming that you heard Sasuke had kicked his ass in training. 

Another way was mentioning that Sakura had accepted his offer of a date and would be waiting for him to pick her up (also an outdated scheme since the blonde had long since gotten over his childhood crush on his old team mate). 

Neji admitted that as much as he liked Naruto, it _was_ a bit irritating to take second place in an attention competition with ramen. As such, it was for his own mental and emotional well-being (at least, that's what he told himself) to discover a successful diversion tactic to get the spiky haired ninja to forget about his noodles and concentrate on _him_ (not that he was jealous). 

Luckily for Neji, Naruto wasn't much of a morning person whenever he wasn't on a mission. Therefore, it was almost pathetically easy to sneak up on the other man and slip his arms around the blonde jounin's waist. 

"Huh?" Naruto said sleepily, eyes at half-mast. His body automatically leaned back against the Hyuuga despite being half asleep and inattentive. One hand absently curled around a lock of dark hair that fell over his shoulder while the other began pouring hot water onto his cup noodles for breakfast. 

When his fingers started slipping underneath the bottom of Naruto's uniform, the blue eyes immediately became alert and the slim body pressed back against him. Neji inwardly grinned and brought one hand up to tilt the whisker scarred face to his own to properly greet the other jounin. 

The water from the kettle continued to pour into the cup ramen. 

It wasn't until the hot water started to migrate across the countertop that Neji decided to move away, smugly proud of the dazed look in the blue eyes and the slight blush of arousal across the bridge of Naruto's nose. Of course, it didn't last very long when the younger ninja realized that his ramen was drowning and he needed to grab a mop to clear up the mess. 

Didn't stop Neji from smirking though. 

Not even when he had several kunai and shuriken tossed at his head for making Naruto late to meet his genin team. 

-end- 

**Finished**: 04.11.05 

**A/N**: And because I found it amusing, Ericulf's response after reading: _in a very bad announcer-voice) Neji vs Ramen! Round 1! Ramen looking smug as naruto opened its lid. Neji merely grins as he secures his hold on naruto's waist. Stealing what little of his attention, Neji chu. Ramen gonk!HEY. It is drowned by the hot water! No score for Ramen. Reason 1, it didn't make Naruto focus on it. Reason 2, no one likes soggy ramen!_


	3. Denial

**Title**: Denial  
**Author**: Rikugou  
**Pairing**: Neji+Naruto  
**Fandom**: Naruto  
**Theme**: 3 - jolt  
**Disclaimer**: Naruto does not belong to me. 

**A/N**: Some bits might be a bit awkward but I really don't know what to do about it. XP Actually finished earlier but I was feeling a bit lazy. 

--- 

Normally, Neji woke up just before dawn to start his morning exercise. On this particularly day, he opted to skip training. After nearly a week of absolutely no rest longer than a catnap, his chakra supply was so pitifully low that it was a welcome respite from stressful responsibilities to just lay about. Besides, he was perfectly content and comfortable curled up against the warm heat of his bed partner (who was obliging enough to stay in bed with him even though they were awake). 

Dropping a sleepy kiss on the soft, blonde spikes under his chin, he settled in for a couple more hours of not needing to be anywhere important. At least, that was what he intended to do, until Naruto decided to speak and shatter the peace. "Ne, I think I know why you and Sasuke don't get along." 

Neji frowned sleepily in response. As much as he liked Naruto, it was way too early in his day to be mentioning Sasuke (and it would probably put him in a very bad mood for the rest of the morning as well; he didn't particularly want to start his day on the wrong foot dammit!). Tugging the blanket up over his shoulder, he turned away from the younger man and curled up on his side, quite intent on ignoring the Sasuke issue entirely. 

Rolling away from the blonde gave him a brief respite but it was quickly shattered when the other ninja dropped the other bomb on him. "It's because you're too alike." The Hyuuga could feel his spine stiffen as a jolt of rightful indignation ran through him. 

"Excuse me?" He turned back to the blonde, silently asking for a clarification. 

Naruto grinned, happy that he got his audience back and continued, "You're too alike. That's why he rubs you the wrong way," he replied, blue eyes determined to prove his point. 

The image of Uchiha touching him (much less rubbing him in any way at all) sent chills down his spine and tempted him to kick the Kyuubi holder out of his bed. "I don't see how," he muttered under his breath. 

"You both come from old clans," Naruto pointed out. 

"So do Shikamaru and Chouji," he replied in a matter-of-fact tone. 

The blonde rolled his eyes at him. "You know what I mean. Konoha's strongest clans are the Uchiha and Hyuuga." 

"Still doesn't mean anything," Neji grumbled. 

"So you admit that both of you are similar," the blonde said in a smug tone of voice. 

Giving his fellow ninja a disdainful look, he said, "I admit nothing." 

"Stubborn bastard," the Kyuubi-holder sulked. "How 'bout the fact that both of you have some sort of crazy obsession when you were genin. You had fate, he had revenge." 

"I got over it if you recall." 

"HA! Only with my help," Naruto smirked. 

"Which Uchiha ignored," he added snidely. Neji received a jab in the ribs for the statement. 

Naruto continued to rattle off things he supposedly had in common with Sasuke and he continued to strike them down. Their morning continued on in this manner for at least half an hour before Neji decided he'd heard enough and shut him up the easiest way he knew how -- by making sure Naruto's mouth was better occupied and that he couldn't think clearly enough to formulate any more crazy theories. 

There were much more pleasurable things they could be doing on their day off than having Naruto convince him that he and Sasuke shared a lot of attributes. Besides, he wasn't about to admit the blonde was right. 

Not today in any case. 

-end- 

**Finished**: 4.24.05  
**Editted**: 4.28.05 


	4. Candy

**Title**: Candy  
**Author**: Rikugou  
**Pairing**: Neji+Naruto  
**Fandom**: Naruto  
**Theme**: 23 - candy  
**Disclaimer**: Naruto does not belong to me. 

A/N: Not exactly what I wanted to post but whatever. This story is brought to you by the end of a mountain of schoolwork and finals. 

--- 

Neji never really developed a taste for sweet things as a child. Candy existed for nothing more than its taste and often times, held no redeeming nutritional value. Plus, it made his former classmates bounce off the walls and ceiling (which was quite possible as ninja students and made Iruka-sensei yell _very_ loudly), so as a result, he tended to avoid it on principle. 

"You're just weird, Neji," the blond said to him, rolling his eyes skyward. He popped another piece of Valentine's Day candy into his mouth before a contemplative look crossed his face. 

The Hyuuga wondered for a moment about the mischief it entailed and tried to back away. However, it was too late. 

Naruto pounced and cupped his face with sticky, sweet fingers and grinned at him before giving him a kiss tasting mostly of strawberries and chocolate. 

And Neji found himself not minding it at all. 

-end- 

**Finished**: 06.17.05  
**Editted**: 06.17.05 


	5. Say Cheese!

**Title**: Say Cheese!  
**Author**: Rikugou  
**Pairing**: Neji+Naruto  
**Fandom**: Naruto  
**Theme**: 19 - in a good mood  
**Disclaimer**: Naruto does not belong to me. 

**A/N**: Personal thanks to Ryrahd, Yukishiroi, Hanasaki Rikku, Lady Dragon, Rosemary and the anonymous person who commented. 

--- 

After a long acquaintance with Naruto, Neji knew better than to trust the blond when he walked into a room with _that_ look on his face. He wore a familiar grin on his face that came from a prank well done -- one that would undoubtedly get him into a load of trouble and drag anyone in the vicinity down with him. 

Naruto didn't seem to have matured at all despite turning nineteen or making jounin. 

"Do I even want to know?" he asked, morbid curiosity getting the better of him. 

"Maybe," Naruto said, his smile widening even more. "You'll find out eventually." 

"That's what I'm afraid of," he muttered under his breath. Naruto remained smiling, even began humming a little tune. 

Neji cringed inwardly. Now he _really_ didn't want to know. 

Turning away, he tried to ignore the jounin and glanced at the clock, mildly irritated. The ninja who was supposed to brief them on their mission was ten minutes late. 

And Naruto had moved to stand next to him somewhere along the line. 

The door slid open. 

Neji stepped away from the wall, only to stop short when Naruto yanked him back and kissed him. He immediately froze, something the blond apparently took as a signal to press closer. Distantly, he thought he heard someone walk in, though he was too preoccupied at the moment to make sure. 

Something clattered noisily to the floor, but Neji didn't pay any attention to it, his thoughts scattered to the four winds by the kiss. His arms crept tentatively around Naruto's waist, carefully holding him in place. 

A camera flashed out of the corner of his eye, shocking him out of his daze. He immediately pulled back, blinking in confusion when he saw Ten Ten smirking gleefully at him. 

"Gotcha," she grinned. "Thanks for the help Naruto!" she said before quickly leaving the room. 

Naruto gave her a cheerful 'thumbs up' sign as she left. 

"What was that about?" Neji said, not at all amused. 

"She just wanted a picture for this scrapbook she's putting together. I offered to help," Naruto said, slowly backing away from the murderous expression Neji knew was on his face. 

It was almost funny how the 'deer-in-the-headlights' look suited the blond. He probably had a lot of practice in it. 

Neji slammed a fist to the back of Naruto's head, just hard enough to make it hurt. "In the future, think twice before you decide to involve me in any of your plots," he growled before stalking angrily out of the room. 

"Does that mean I can count on you next time?" Naruto called out after him. 

The Hyuuga didn't bother answering. 

-end- 

**Finished**: 09.30.05  
**Editted**: 10.01.05 


	6. Feeding Time

**Title**: Feeding Time  
**Author**: Rikugou  
**Pairing**: Neji+Naruto  
**Fandom**: Naruto  
**Theme**: 18 - "say ahh..."  
**Disclaimer**: Naruto does not belong to me.

---

Naruto smirked as held a piece of food between two chopsticks and offered it before a pair of tightly pinched lips. "Open wide for the choo-choo train, Neji-_chan_," the blonde said in a cutesy voice.

White eyes glared angrily at the food before switching to the all-too-amused younger teen. "I _can_ feed myself you know."

"Yeah, and have half of it land on your lap." His teammate gave him a bigger smirk.

"I can use a fork," Neji growled. "I broke _one_ arm, not both!"

"Yea, your dominant arm...in _three_ places! Besides, it's much faster this way!" Naruto completely ignored his request for a fork.

_It's also much more entertaining for_ you, the Hyuuga snarled silently. _I'm not here for your amusement!_

"Aww, come on Neji. Say ahh...I know you're hungry," Naruto said with a huff of exasperation.

The dark haired jounin pointedly turned his head away and quietly seethed. However, his stomach took that moment to growl and taunt him about his undignified situation. Neji felt his face heat up in embarassment as his uninjured hand clenched spasmodically on his thigh trying to resist the urge to violently kick the blonde out of the room.

The one thing he absolutely hated about being in the hospital was being treated as an invalid. With Naruto pushing every blasted button he had about the entire thing, it was not helping his disposition at all. Neji didn't need anyone to feed him dammit!

Naruto gave him a long, speculative look as if he could read his every thought, bright blue eyes focused laser-like on his face. Even though Neji had his face turned away, the older ninja still had to restrain the urge to fidget while he remained under the blonde's intense scrutiny. There was just something in those eyes that always made you feel absolutely transparent when you were the object of their attention and all of two inches tall.

Then the uncomfortable moment was broken. "If you're not going to eat your lunch, I'll just have to eat it for you," the blonde ninja said with a devious smirk. In support of his words, he popped a small piece of cubed fruit into his mouth. 

Neji glared at the food thief and opened his mouth to growl at his annoying visitor. But then those piercing blue eyes were too close and he found himself staring at dark blonde lashes as he was dragged into an impromptu kiss.

Naruto gently coaxed his mouth open with a warm swipe of his tongue and Neji found his mouth falling open in shock at the ridiculously bold move. And then he nearly choked when the piece of fruit his friend had pretended to eat was suddenly in his mouth. Neji reflexively chewed and swallowed before he realized what was happening.

"Heh. That wasn't so bad was it?" Naruto backed away with a smugly satisfied grin. 

Neji immediately lunged at the inferiorating blond, intent on strangling Naruto--one-handed or not. However, his former jounin instructor took that moment to barge in and launch into a speech about the wonderful green spring of youth and how he wished his loveable student a fast recovery. Surprised by the abrupt entry, Neji lost his precarious balance and collapsed on top of Naruto.

Tenten and Lee glanced in just in time to see them in the scandalous position and stared slightly slackjawed at him. Naruto merely looked at his rapidly reddening face and promptly began laughing his ass off.

Oh yea, Neji was definitely going to get Naruto back when he got out of the hospital. Come hell or high water, he thought, he was going to get Naruto back.

And then he had no more time to think further on it as he tried to fend off the rapid fire questions from his former cell members.

-end-

**Finished**: 12.31.05  
**Edited**: 01.01.06


	7. Sleeping In

**Title**: Sleeping In  
**Author**: Rikugou  
**Pairing**: Neji+Naruto  
**Fandom**: Naruto  
**Theme**: 19 - perfect blue  
**Disclaimer**: Naruto does not belong to me.

**Notes**: XD;; Hi. It's been awhile.

---

"Let me stay over?" Naruto pleaded, bodily blocking the exit to the Tower. 

"No," Neji said firmly, half-contemplating the repercussions of shoving the other ninja aside and leaving.

Naruto generally took off for his apartment or the training grounds after they gave their reports. However, considering how difficult their latest job was, it wasn't surprising that the blonde deviated from his usual habits.

"Please?" Blue eyes sparkled suspiciously with a sheen of tears.

Neji restrained the urge to snort at the ridiculous expression. "No."

"You realize that the sooner you give in, the sooner you can go home, right?" There was a definite whiny tone creeping into Naruto's voice. Blue eyes narrowed dangerously, "I'll tell Tenten what really happened when she got really smashed last time and tried to shove her to--"

The dark haired jounin immediately lunged to cover Naruto's mouth with a hand, looking semi-frantically down the empty hall as if his former team mate would appear out of no where. The blond grinned wickedly, sensing the end of the argument. Sighing, Neji just gave in. Even drained and possibly aching in twenty million places, Naruto _still_ had enough energy to be annoying as hell and he was just not in the mood to deal with it. Releasing him, Neji trudged towards his apartment.

Thus, when Neji went home, Naruto went with him. It was all he could do to put one foot in front of the other so he wasn't sure he could muster up the willpower to complain. Even having 2 close encounters with immovable objects (i.e.: a lamp post and a wall) and his forehead didn't make him do anything more than grumble sleepily.

Neji was just thankful no one, besides his blond tagalong, witnessed his disastrous attempt at opening his apartment door. Toeing off his shoes at the entrance, he continued his tired trek towards blissful oblivion. Upon reaching his room, the Byakugan user managed to gather just enough energy to peel off his uniform and drag on a pair of clean pj bottoms before collapsing into bed. What he _hadn't_ counted on was Naruto climbing into bed with him.

"What are you doing, Naruto?" he muttered, voice slightly muffled by the pillow his face was mashed into.

"Sleeping," the blonde yawned.

"Guest room is down the hall," Neji grumbled as he attempted to shove the other out of his bed without much success.

"Too far," was the last response he received because in the next moment, Naruto was out like a light. And no matter how much Neji pushed, he refused to budge from underneath the blankets.

It wasn't like it was the first time he slept next to Naruto. Cold nights with no fire while deep within enemy territory generally had them curled up like puppies for warmth. Of course, they had never shared a bed when they were off duty, but at the moment, he really was too tired to care about propriety. The last of his waning strength depleted, Neji just settled into a more comfortable position, gave into the inevitable and went to sleep. 

---

When he awoke, it was at well past noon--expected because he had been running on close to no sleep for 3 days, with Naruto clinging to his waist like a limpet. His mind took a few moments to kickstart itself as he sorted out his groggy thoughts. As he shook away the last vestiges of sleep, Neji remained still in the octopus like grasp of his bed partner. It wasn't exactly uncommon to find Naruto stuck to you like a burr if you slept side by side the night before.

What _was_ uncommon was the fact that Neji had been awake for the past 5 minutes and the other teen was still asleep.

Irritated by the dead weight curled against his side, he finally reached over and roughly shook a pajama clad (were those his?) shoulder. "Oi, Naruto!"

The blonde merely mumbled something indistinct under his breath and threw a leg over his, further trapping him in Naruto's grasp. Failing to wake Naruto up, Neji attempted to pry the arms away from his body enough so that he could escape.

When the arms unexpectedly tightend around his waist before he could slip away, Neji slumped back against the headboard. He resigned himself to the fact that he was going to be stuck in bed until the unconscious lump called Naruto decided to wake up. Stretching away the kinks left by sleep, Neji tried to make himself comfortable against the headboard and prepared himself to wait out the afternoon.

Really, the things he did for a certain blond ninja were starting to get ridiculous.

--- 

Unseen, Naruto peered up at the preoccupied ninja before grinning and settling in for a well-deserved lie-in.

-end- 

**Finished**: 12.31.05  
**Edited**: 01.01.06


	8. No Refunds

**Title**: No Refunds  
**Author**: Rikugou  
**Pairing**: Neji+Naruto  
**Fandom**: Naruto  
**Theme**: 29 - the sound of waves  
**Disclaimer**: Naruto does not belong to me.  
**Notes**: Consider this a record for me. XD;; Don't think it'll happen again anytime soon.

---

If Naruto had a choice in deciding how he would die, he would have chosen to go out with a bang. The only other option he could think of would be to quietly pass on in his sleep; though, the idea of dying due to old age seemed as silly to him as why ramen wasn't everyone's favorite food.

Besides, it was boring.

Ninjas, on principle, didn't _do_ boring and rarely did they have long lives. The only true exceptions were the Sandaime and his pupils and one of them spent most of his time trying to work around it--which ultimately led to his own downfall. Some might have said that they were merely skilled enough to overcome most of their enemies. Naruto would point out that the Yondaime was considered to be one of the best, but was also a prime example of a potentially prosperous life cut agonizingly short.

No one could ever refute him after that--not convincingly in any case. 

Though really, Naruto hadn't truly realized at the time how much those 'bangs' might hurt. So here he was, lying in a puddle of his own blood looking more like a porcupine than anything else and contemplating his ridiculous situation. It was almost a let down. He thought he'd be able to go out with a dramatic explosion--taking out his enemy at the expense of his own life. Of course before he attempted to do something so martyr-like, Naruto didn't think he would have had enough time to take in the pain he caused in his endeavor. Maybe he could ask for a refund or--

"Naruto!" 

A panicked shout echoed in his ears and white eyes suddenly appeared in his cloudy vision, interrupting his maudlin contemplation.

"Hey," Naruto grinned, panicking slightly when he found it took more energy than it should have. It quickly disappeared when he saw uncharacteristic tears on his friend's face. His violently trembling hand came up futilely and tried to catch them. "Sorry Neji. I'll be okay soon enough." He tried to smile reassuringly, but the roaring in his ears grew louder.

Naruto's hand fell back, leaving bloody kisses on pale skin.

And then, he knew no more.

-end- 

**Finished**: 4.16.06  
**Edited**: 4.16.06


End file.
